Hi Jim, what can you tell me about Ryan Goleski, the kid the A's took in the Rule 5? Does he have a shot at starting in LF this year? And what do you see in his future?

SportsNation Jim Callis: (2:31 PM ET ) He has some power and a pretty good track record in the minors, save for a disappointing 2005. But he has a wrist injury that A's didn't know about until after the Rule 5 draft, and he won't be ready for spring training.

As some may or may not know, we are in the process of working out an affiliation with a major media partner.....and because of that, some interesting news came my way today firsthand:

The Indians actually DID NOT cover up the Goleski wrist injury. Goleski is the one that covered it up.

Goleski was hit by a pitch in the Eastern League playoffs, and the Indians shut him down and did not send him to the instructional league or winter ball. A few weeks after the season ended, he took some swings in a cage and his wrist basically exploded on him. Torn ligaments and all....which required surgery. Apparently, the Indians didn't even know of the surgery either, or about the wrist exploding on him.

With the injury, he won't be completely healthy when Spring Training opens for Oakland, but should be able to participate in some fashion. The injury, however, opens up the door that Goleski could be 60-day DLed by the A's.

When I got word of this an hour ago, I was completely floored. No one...NO ONE knew of this injury until a few days ago except for Goleski. Amazing, and one hell of a job of covering it up by Ryan.

I just spoke to CK for the first time in a few weeks....and apparently there is even more to this story and it has gotten even more complicated. He wouldn't scoop anything, but said a story is expected to go up soon on BA's site.

(what soon is I have no idea, could be later tonight or in a day or so)

Goleski had surgery on Nov. 9 performed by the Indians medical staff to remove bone chips from the wrist, and there is now some question as to whether he'll be ready for spring training--now as property of the Athletics.

Based on Major League Baseball guidelines, all 30 clubs are required to turn in injury reports prior to the Rule 5 draft, stating which eligible players already have or were slated to have offseason surgery.

The A's and Indians agree that Goleski was not on that list, and the two sides are examining the situation with a wait-and-see approach.

Yeah, the story CK is reporting is slightly different from what I have been told from someone else. Although, I know CK is holding back here in this report. There's a lot being worked out with this injury situation and whether or not the Indians knew about it or not and if they were in the wrong here.....